Sunday, December 04, 2016

Convincing My Amygdala that the Saber-toothed Tiger is Extinct

Brain studies -- I love them. We're learning so much incredibly important stuff that we can use to make our lives better.

Right now the articles I've read have informed me that if I had high levels of stress as a child -- which I did -- that my brain didn't develop normally. Here's my probably-oversimplified-but-probably-accurate explanation:

The amygdala is the primitive part of the brain that alerts us when it thinks we're in danger. We get a surge of adrenaline that gives us the power to fight or flee. That's a good thing if we're living in a world where there are saber-toothed tigers everywhere. We as humans probably survived thanks to the amygdala.

However, there are a whole lot of downsides to this mechanism. The main thing is that there are no more saber-toothed tigers. There are drunk mothers, etc. and that seems to have the same effect on a developing brain.

The amygdala develops a large presence in the brain and for whatever reason the hippocampus (memory and learning center) doesn't grow as large as it's supposed to and the frontal lobes (that tell us whether to believe all the signals of extreme danger coming from the amygdala) don't grow as large either.

So... if there's a lot of stress from poor parenting, poverty, abuse, disasters or whatever, the child's brain develops into an adult brain that works mostly to keep the adult in a state of anxiety, anger, and prey to bad choices to make the painful feelings go away.

Not a very functional adult. That was -- and sometimes is -- me.

Not much research yet on solutions but there's enough to make use of. For kids -- their need is a consistent food supply; warm, loving, present, unstressed parents; plenty of stimulation. If they don't get those things... For adults-- we need ways to calm our amygdalas down -- like yoga and meditation. We need a nutritious diet with lots of fresh fruit, vegetables and good protein and lots of omega 3s. We need lots of rest and many connections with loving people. Kinda similar for us adults, huh?

Apparently we need to really work on shrinking our amygdalas, increasing the size of our hippocampus and frontal lobes or we're just going to go through life feeling as if we're being chased by tigers. If we don't want to have a world full of kids acting like they're being chased by tigers, we will want to help parents provide the things their children need.

OBSERVATIONS

I write about what I experience in life - some difficult, some fun, some just wondering.

Gifts of Recovery

"...the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the seeming evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter." Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

About Me

I am Mary Ann. I have four amazing children (now adults) and four astounding grandchildren. I’m a writer, certified life coach, and instructor of life skills classes. I’m the author of two blogs: Observations and Empowerment: Enhancing capacity for positive change. I have been in recovery from alcoholism for over 29 years. I lost my beloved husband as a result of a wreck in 2005 when we were hit by a drunk driver, and I have been recovering from my injuries from the wreck since then.
I have 40 years of experience as a parent of children with multiple disabilities, disability advocate, developer and trainer of curriculum to empower families dealing with disability and/or recovery from addiction. I also provide individual coaching to assist in setting and achieving goals for positive change.
For information about classes or coaching, email maduncan6@gmail.com.